THE ECHO

By Jerica Bernfield // Reporter

Every afternoon right before the 3:10 bell, students groan at the late bus announcements. It’s difficult, annoying, and disruptive — not just for the students but for the Avon Transportation Department as well.

Many people know about the shortage of bus drivers but are less aware of the root cause. Kevin Gray, director of transportation, said there are obstacles to getting applicants.   

“There’s a shortage of CDL bus drivers. Not just everyone can get in a bus. You have to have a special license,” Gray said.

Gray said the district is in need of seven drivers. The problem isn’t just disinterest in the job, it’s the training that’s deterring people away.

“You have to have a CDL license which you have to take a special test for,” Gray said.

This test isn’t just a paper and sit-down test, it requires endorsements on your CDL license. There are three to four different tests you have to pass before you then have to pass the state test. Then drivers have to go through eight hours of training with four hours on the road and four hours in a training area behind Cedar Elementary. All of these components turn people away since many of the applicants only want it as a part-time job, and when seeing the requirements to get the job, they decide it’s not worth it.

The lack of bus drivers is not limited to Avon.

“Across the nation, there is a shortage of bus drivers for schools and school districts. If you look at Brownsburg, Danville, Plainfield, all have signs across their communities advertising for drivers,” Gray said.

The process of choosing which buses will be delayed is a difficult one. The background of the issue is how many routes the school district has.

“This year we have reconfigured our schools. We now have much different systems of transporting people,” Gray said.

Gray said the elementary routes, middle school routes, and the high school routes we used to have are now condensed to the elementary, intermediate, and high school routes.

Even with the condensed routes, Gray said problems arise when they don’t have enough drivers for every way.

Gray said at the beginning of the year, “We were trying to make sure the buses that weren’t too full but were as full as we could manage. And for the first few weeks it was really us trying to figure out, do we have the right number of routes, appropriate number of kids on each route, and how do we make it be the best they can be, getting everybody to school safely and comfortably?”

Gray explained there are seven routes that aren’t covered every day due to the shortage. While they do have standby drivers they can bring in if they need a route covered, that number is few. The biggest struggle is trying to choose which routes are going to be delayed based on times students need to be at school, when schools get out, and how to minimize the time missed in classes.

Gray and his teams on the transportation staff are actively working to find more bus drivers.

“We post jobs on the Indiana State Transportation page and the Indiana Departments of Education, we send out social media on occasion to remind people that we’re still looking for drivers,” Gray said.

Gray said the transportation department also has a referral program for employees along with a financial incentive to try and entice people to apply.

While the situation is tricky, Gray said the department is posting and sending out jobs, showing up at job fairs, and still communicating at all times so no one is left in the dark. ParentSquares are sent out for delays and any questions can be called in to the Department. Gray said he and his teams are working on helping the situation so students can still thrive.